sciolist

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sci·o·lism

(sī′ə-lĭz′əm)

A pretentious attitude of scholarship; superficial knowledgeability.

[From Late Latin sciolus, smatterer, diminutive of Latin scius, knowing, from scīre, to know; see skei- in Indo-European roots.]

sci′o·list n.

sci′o·lis′tic adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun

sciolist - an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge

dabbler, dilettante

amateur - someone who pursues a study or sport as a pastime

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References in classic literature ?

The hero of the epic is at once sciolist and simpleton, `knowing many things, but knowing them all badly'.

View in context

Hermach exhibited a sciolist's perspective when he said Western Oregon was historically a vast old growth forest.

Letters in the editor's mailbag

In "On Paradox and Common-Place," "the modern sciolist always inquires after the latest paradox.